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Whiff/Behind the Scenes
Background information Behind the Scenes Whiff is a fictional standard gauge tank locomotive created by Wayne Jackman. In 2007, Whiff made his debut in the eleventh series of Thomas & Friends in the episode, Emily's Rubbish. When the show transitioned into full CGI in 2009, Whiff was absent for a year and later returned in the 2010 special, Misty Island Rescue. Since his return in 2010, Whiff has been voiced by Keith Wickham in the British English dub and William Hope in the American English dub. Both give him British and American accents, respectively. Whiff is based on the North Eastern Railway's 2-2-4T No. 66, named "Aerolite". Behind the Scenes Gauge 1 model Whiff's model was built as a North Eastern Railway's 2-2-4T No. 66, named "Aerolite". It was built to approximately 1/32 scale and designed to run on gauge 1 track. Four facial expressions were sculpted for Whiff, although two sad faces were not used on-screen. The faces were first sculpted in clay and from that resin casts were made using a silicone mould. The model body was made from brass. While only one body was made, two complete chassis' were constructed from scratch (CNC). The chassis had two motors, both powered by electricity from the track via the pickups on the metal wheels. The main motor powered the wheels, while the second motor (located at the back) powered an inside piston for the smoke mechanism. The eye mechanism had two servos, one for up and down movement and one for left and right movement. The up/down servo was attached to the body. The left/right servo had a rod attached to the arm, which connected to a bracket. The eye balls were coupled to the bracket and locked in by the face-plate, so whenever the servos were powered, the eye balls would move however the crew member desired. File:Emily'sRubbish11.png File:Emily'sRubbish2.PNG File:Emily'sRubbish40.png File:WhiffModel.png|Whiff's model File:WhiffFaceReference-Series12.jpg|Whiff's Series 12 face reference sheet, courtesy of TomsProps on Twitter The unused sad faces on the rightTomsProps on Twitter The twelfth series marked the beginning of the show's transition into CGI and the characters' faces were animated through CGI with the aid of motion capture animation. The physical models' moulded faces were replaced by white targets with triangles to fix a computer-animated face in post-production. Whiff's resin faces were only used in background shots. File:Toby'sSpecialSurprise39.png File:Toby'sSpecialSurprise63.png Whiff has had modifications during his tenure in the model era. These include: * In the twelfth series, his glasses gained lenses. Close-up model Close-up shots of Whiff's cab were required for scenes in where he had to interact with close-up scale figures. The model was not complete and only portions of the cab were built. Whiff's close-up model only appeared in the twelfth series episode, Toby's Special Surprise. File:Toby'sSpecialSurprise61.png File:Toby'sSpecialSurprise62.png CGI model In 2009, the series introduced Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) as a replacement for the show's long-standing live-action models. Whiff was recreated from scratch in CGI by Nitrogen Studios. His model was "hand-sculpted" in Maya, a 3D animation and modelling software. Photographs of Whiff's Gauge 1 model were used for referencing. According to Greg Tiernan, every detail of the original television series models for each character is carefully reproduced in the CGI model. The models are subjected to many rounds of review before they are submitted to HiT Entertainment for final input and approval. Whiff has had modifications throughout the CGI series. These include: * Misty Island Rescue: ** His whistle budges up and down. ** His bufferbeam is significantly more weathered. ** His pupils become smaller. * Series 17: ** His whistle becomes stationary again. * Series 18: ** He gained a lamp and lamp iron. * Series 20: ** He gained front and rear brakepipes. Additionally, the front brakepipe outlets he had had since his introduction were replaced by the generic style shared by most of the other engines - he also gained these on his back. File:MistyIslandRescue209.png|Final render File:SidneySings50.PNG Voice Actors * Keith Wickham * William Hope * Takayuki Kawasugi * Keiko Nemoto * Ernesto Lezama * Carlos Íñigo * Sigbjørn Solheim * Dan Schatzberg * Robin Brosch * Tetje Mierendorf * Till Huster * Kailas Mahadevan * Artur Pontek * Mariano García * Vladimir Antonik * Petri Hanttu * Raine Heiskanen References Category:Behind the Scenes Category:Images of Whiff Category:Images from behind the scenes